Tuesday, February 3, 2009

New York City

After a few weeks of being back in DC (with occasional work trips), starting classes, and doing work, Jeff and I decided to spend a weekend in New York City.

The trip actually originated because I had planned to visit my friend, Pooja, in New York sometime this past Fall. I hadn't seen her since she took a 6-month trip to Africa, and in addition to general catching up, she and I wanted to coordinate future plans for our engINdia organization. I was planning on heading to NYC as soon as I had a free weekend. Unfortunately, this mysterious "free weekend" never materialized. So in the new year I resolved to set a date to visit, even if I was busy and ended up sitting in Pooja's apartment doing work.

So, the last weekend in January, Jeff and I drove to Pooja's apartment in Jersey City. We got there pretty late, so we just ordered Indian food and watched The Office. (Not a bad way to spend a Friday night, in my opinion.)

On Saturday, true to my prediction, I did end up sitting in Pooja's apartment doing work. But it was still a fun morning, and I had some of Pooja's awesome homemade chai and oatmeal with blueberries.

Then, Saturday evening, we headed into the city. Jeff and I first went for a visit with his grandparents, who live in the NYU neighborhood. It was nice to see them, especially since we usually only get to see them at holidays and big family events.

For dinner, Jeff and I met up with Pooja and our friend Rahul, who also lives in the city. We had Moroccan food at Cafe Mogador in the St. Mark's area. The food was very good, and the neighborhood was really cute.

Afterwards, Pooja and Rahul led Jeff and I on a trendy tour of NYC night life, visiting The Central Bar, Cibar (which played Modest Mouse!), and a number of others. Making our one weekend out a true New York City experience, we didn't head back to Jersey City until 4am.

I would love to live in New York at some point - the city is always so alive, the subway is open 24 hours, and there's so many things to do. It's really one of those places that feels like the center of the world.

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